Gillian Clarke
Gillian Clarke (born 8 June 1937) is a Anglo-Welsh poet, playwright , editor, broadcaster, lecturer and translator from Welsh.Carcanet Press - Gillian Clarke Life Clarke was born on 8 June 1937 in Cardiff, and was brought up in Cardiff and Penarth, though for part of the Second World War she was in Pembrokeshire. She lived in Barry for a few years at a house called "Flatholme" on The Parade. Although her parents were Welsh speakers, she was brought up speaking only English and learnt to speak Welsh as an adult - partly as a form of rebellion. She graduated in English from Cardiff University. Afterwards she spent a year working for the BBC in London. She then returned to Cardiff, where she married and had a daughter, Catrin, about whom she has written a poem of the same name, and two sons. She worked as an English teacher, first at the Reardon-Smith Nautical College and later at Newport College of Art. In the mid-1980s she moved to rural Ceredigion, west Wales with her second husband, after which time she spent some years as a creative writing tutor at the University of Glamorgan. In 1990 she was a co-founder of Ty Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales. Her poetry is studied by GCSE and A Level students throughout Britain. She has given poetry readings and lectures in Europe and the United States, and her work has been translated into ten languages. A considerable number of her poems are used in the GCSE AQA Anthology. Clarke has published numerous collections of poetry for adults and children (see below), as well as dramatic commissions and numerous articles in a wide range of publications. She is a former editor of Anglo-Welsh Review (1975–84) and the current president of Tŷ Newydd. Several of her books have received the Poetry Book Society Recommendation. In 1999 Gillian Clarke received the Glyndŵr Award for an "Outstanding Contribution to the Arts in Wales" during the Machynlleth Festival, and she was on the judging panel for the 2008 Manchester Poetry Prize. Clarke reads her poetry for teenagers who are taking their English GCSE school exams. She is part of the GCSE Poetry Live team that also includes John Agard, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Imtiaz Dharker, Moniza Alvi, Grace Nichols, Daljit Nagra and Choman Hardi. In December 2013 Clarke was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Recognition In 2008 Gillian Clarke became the third National Poet of Wales.Welsh Academi - National Poet of Wales In 2010 she was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, being only the second Welsh person to receive the honour. In 2011 she was made a member of the Gorsedd of Bards. In 2012 she received the Wilfred Owen Association Poetry award. Her poetry collection Ice was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2012. ''Anthologise'' annual schools competition In 2011 Clarke was a member of the first ever judging panel for a new schools poetry competition named Anthologise, spearheaded by Poet Laureate Carol-Ann Duffy. School students aged 11-18 from around the UK were invited to create and submit their own anthologies of published poetry. The first ever winners of Anthologise were the sixth form pupils of Monkton Combe School, Bath, Somerset, with their anthology titled The Poetry of Earth is Never Dead.Anthologise Publications Poetry * Snow on the Mountain. Swansea, Llandybie, Wales, UK: Christopher Davies, 1971 * The Sundial. landysul, Dyfed, Wales, UK: Gomer Press, 1978. * Letter From a Far Country. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1982. * Selected Poems. Mancheser, UK: Carcanet Press, 1985. * Letting in the Rumour. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1989. * The King of Britain's Daughter. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1993. * Collected Poems. Manchester, UK, & Chicago: Carcanet Press, 1997. * Five Fields. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 1998. * Nine Green Gardens. Llandysul, Wales, UK: Gomer, 2000. * Making the Beds for the Dead. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 2004. * A Recipe for Water. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 2009. * Ice. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 2012). Prose *''Banc Sîon Cwilt: A local habitation and a name''. Newtown, Powys, Wales, UK: Gwasg Gregynog, 1998. * At the Source: A Writer's Year (mixed form). Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 2008. Juvenile *''The Animal Wall, and other poems'' (illustrated by Karen Pearce). Llandysul, Wales, UK: Pont Books, 1999. *''Owain Glyn Dwr, 1400-2000''(illustrated by Margaret D Jones; Welsh text by Iwan Llwyd; English poems by Clarke). National Library of Wales, 2000. Translated *T. Llew Jones, One Moonlit Night(illustrated by Jac Jones). Llandysul, Wales, UK: Pont Books, 1991. Edited *''I Can Move the Sea: 100 poems by children'' (illustrated by Jenny Fell). Gomer Press, 1996. *''The Whispering Room: Haunted poems'' (illustrated by Justin Todd). New York: Kingfisher. 1996. *''The Kingfisher Book of Scary Poems'' (illustrated by Justin Todd). London: Kingfisher, 1996, 2003. Anthologized *''The Poetry Book Society Anthology, 1987/88''. London; Hutchinson, 1987. *''Six Women Poets'' (edited by Judith Kinsman). Oxford University Press. *''Bioverse: A collection of poems commissioned for The National Botanic Garden of Wales'' (edited by Andrew Sclater). HarperCollins, 2000. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Gillian Clarke, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 29, 2013. See also *Anglo-Welsh poetry *List of British poets References External links ;Audio / video * Gillian Clarke (b. 1937) at The Poetry Archive; poems written and audio * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/03/2008_20_tue.shtml "The poet talks about her prose collection "At the Source''"]'' BBC Woman's Hour 13 May 2008]. (Audio 10 mins) '' * "Making Beds for the Dead". BBC Woman's Hour 8 April 8, 2004]. (Audio 10 mins) ;About * Gillian Clarke at Carcanet Press * Gillian Clarke at the British Council * Gillian Clarke Official website * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2004/nov/13/featuresreviews.guardianreview16 Review of Gillian Clarke in the ''Guardian] * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/12/poetry Gillian Clarke poetry workshop in the Guardian] Category:Anglo-Welsh women poets Category:1937 births Category:Alumni of Cardiff University Category:Academics of the University of Glamorgan Category:Living people Category:People from Cardiff Category:Welsh-speaking people Category:Cholmondeley Award winners Category:Bards of the Gorsedd